Rs 3,800 cr land scam unearthed in Noida

NOIDA: Another scam related to allotment of land to private companies and individuals has been unearthed in Noida. The Noida Authority has revealed that the Rs 3,800 crore scam took place in 2011 during the erstwhile BSP government wherein around 3.81 lakh square metres land was leased to three private companies and 'favoured individuals'.

An inquiry into the matter began in June after the regime change in the state. While a Naib Tehsildar has been removed, the Authority CEO Sanjeev Saran has recommended suspension of a PCS officer currently posted as additional district magistrate (land) in Noida. An FIR may soon be lodged against the accused officers.

The inquiry has revealed that the PCS officer Harish Chandar, who was then posted as secretary, Ajay Shrivastav (Tehsildar), and Manoj Kumar Singh (Naib Tahsildar) had allegedly allotted 3,81,527 square metres of developed prime land along the expressway in Sectors 140A, 141, 142 and 143 violating all laid down norms.

The Noida Authority has removed Manoj Kumar Singh from his post while Ajay Shrivastav had been sacked earlier. TOI has a copy of the letter written to UP principal secretary (appointment) Rajeev Kumar recommending sacking of PCS officer Harish Chandar. The land was allotted at a marginal rate of Rs 11,000 per square metre even though the prevailing market rates were as much as Rs 1 lakh per square metre, said officials.

The land has been allotted to the three private companies and a dozen ineligible individuals under the guise of regularizing Abadi land dispute among farmers in Sehadra village along the expressway.

Officials said that in the case of Abadi land regularization, Noida Authority only has the power to leaseback a plot to a villager if he was in possession of it and was an original resident of the village. "The officials blatantly violated these norms and got lease deeds done to ineligible people and private companies, which otherwise cannot be done through legal means," said Vijay Kumar Yadav, deputy CEO, Noida Authority.

"The officials had used the farmer unrest of 2011 as an excuse and stated that if they did not leaseback the land, violence would break out," said an official. The inquiry has also revealed that the accused officers had also managed to fool a high-level committee headed by the DM and the SSP, that exclusively takes care of Abadi land issues, by not revealing the specific area of the land allotted in the scam.